38 Games Like Ju-On: The Grudge It is said that when a person dies with a deep and burning grudge, a curse is born. When an average housewife in Nerima, Japan, was murdered in a grisly fashion, it gave rise to a curse so powerful that it threatens to kill at a pace thought unimaginable before.
I was hoping for something as scary as Nanashi no Game Me for Nintendo DS. Well, this game could have been scary, but it has some serious mechanical flaws. I could not really make it through the second level because of the frustrating controls. Here is a simple breakdown of what I managed to play through on The Grudge.
Graphics: 8/10
I give it an 8 because the graphics are pretty good and being a Wii game, the graphics should look not too realistic because kids will be the ones mostly playing Wii games. So I am satisfied with them. If it had a realistic graphics mode so like everything looked real, that be awesome. The opening was really cool, but after you watch it a few time, you start to laugh at the camera operator.
Controls: 2/10
The controls have a great concept, but the problem is that it relies heavily on the connectivity with the sensor bar and the Wii remote itself. You have to be sitting dead center facing the TV or sensor bar. If your pointer goes off the screen, 1 of 3 things happen, you lock up, you spin around really slowly, or your character twitches between turning 2 directions. Usually when I walk, I find my character facing straight up or looking down progressively. It is hard to explain. Basically, walking is a nightmare, that and it is painfully slow. Any time something on the screen happens, I find myself quickly looking straight up so I miss everything. Other times when you are in an action surprise scare attack, the same things happens, but you also get help arrows on the screen that tell you what you are supposed to do. It kills the scare factor majorly.
Sounds: 7/10
The sounds of everything are good and a little creepy at times, but the one thing is that the game mentions to play in surround sound. I was using a surround sound and rather than using sound as hints for where sounds were coming from, they played randomly on the speakers. Some sounds that played were really weird that are difficult to comment on.
Scare factor: 6/10
For the target audience, it is scary, but the controls and on screen help leaves you more frustrated than scared. Sure I played with the lights on, but I usually miss the scary stuff because anytime something happens, my character looks straight up and I miss everything. I gave it a low score because of the controls. It has a high suspense factor if that means anything.
Gameplay: 5/10
I am just going to say it is a 5 because it is good, but I couldn't really play it from the controls and walking too slow.
Overall, if the controls weren't crap and you didn't walk so slow, it would be a good game. The on screen help really would not bother me because it is nice to know what you are doing. I am not saying this is a game you need to stay away from, but if you have issues with awkward controls, you may not want to play this. I would have like Gamecube controller support, but it is Wii remote only.
Graphics: 8/10
I give it an 8 because the graphics are pretty good and being a Wii game, the graphics should look not too realistic because kids will be the ones mostly playing Wii games. So I am satisfied with them. If it had a realistic graphics mode so like everything looked real, that be awesome. The opening was really cool, but after you watch it a few time, you start to laugh at the camera operator.
Controls: 2/10
The controls have a great concept, but the problem is that it relies heavily on the connectivity with the sensor bar and the Wii remote itself. You have to be sitting dead center facing the TV or sensor bar. If your pointer goes off the screen, 1 of 3 things happen, you lock up, you spin around really slowly, or your character twitches between turning 2 directions. Usually when I walk, I find my character facing straight up or looking down progressively. It is hard to explain. Basically, walking is a nightmare, that and it is painfully slow. Any time something on the screen happens, I find myself quickly looking straight up so I miss everything. Other times when you are in an action surprise scare attack, the same things happens, but you also get help arrows on the screen that tell you what you are supposed to do. It kills the scare factor majorly.
Sounds: 7/10
The sounds of everything are good and a little creepy at times, but the one thing is that the game mentions to play in surround sound. I was using a surround sound and rather than using sound as hints for where sounds were coming from, they played randomly on the speakers. Some sounds that played were really weird that are difficult to comment on.
Scare factor: 6/10
For the target audience, it is scary, but the controls and on screen help leaves you more frustrated than scared. Sure I played with the lights on, but I usually miss the scary stuff because anytime something happens, my character looks straight up and I miss everything. I gave it a low score because of the controls. It has a high suspense factor if that means anything.
Gameplay: 5/10
I am just going to say it is a 5 because it is good, but I couldn't really play it from the controls and walking too slow.
Overall, if the controls weren't crap and you didn't walk so slow, it would be a good game. The on screen help really would not bother me because it is nice to know what you are doing. I am not saying this is a game you need to stay away from, but if you have issues with awkward controls, you may not want to play this. I would have like Gamecube controller support, but it is Wii remote only.
Format: Wii
Developer: Feelplus
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Released: 30 October 2009
Score: 3/10
Developer: Feelplus
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Released: 30 October 2009
Score: 3/10
As video games go, Ju-on: The Grudge has tougher obstacles than most to overcome. Not only is the latest Nintendo horror game based on a superb movie franchise (which is never a good sign), it's an entry in a genre which has enjoyed something of a banner year in 2009. While the horror genre continues to stagnate in cinemas (Drag Me To Hell and Let The Right One In notwithstanding), video game console owners have been thrilled by a variety of horror titles such as Silent Hill: Homecoming, Resident Evil 5 and Dead Space: Extraction – and there are still more on the way. Ju-on promises a unique horror experience in its assertion that it's a haunted house simulator, presumably in an attempt to distance itself from other subgenres within horror video games such as survival horror. But can this movie franchise tie-in compete with the best horror titles released this year?
Things started promisingly enough; after a loading screen which shows a series of disturbing film clips, the game effectively dares you to play it. There have been horror video games that have shocked me out of my seat (Dead Space, System Shock 2), while others have established a crushing atmosphere of fear and loathing and then proceeded to burrow into my skin through a cocktail of grotesque imagery and disturbing subliminal suggestion (Silent Hill 2 comes up top trumps in this department). However, before slotting Ju-on into the Wii, I'd never come across a game that offered a 'courage test' as a menu option before. I entered my gender and starsign as required by the game and then waited in dry-lipped anticipation for the terror to commence. About ten minutes later, I was bored witless.
The first problem players will encounter is Ju-on's completely dire control system. Players spend most of their time navigating darkened rooms with the Wii-mote doubling as a torch. They change direction by moving the beam left and right and move forward by pressing the B button. Along the way they pick up objects such as keys to locked doors and batteries for their torch – the only light source they'll to have for most of the game. The controls are variously unresponsive and pointing the Wii-mote to one side of the screen doesn't always guarantee a change in direction. Making matters worse is the grindingly slow pace at which the player moves; it really is comparable to that of an ancient tortoise carrying an elephant on its back. Other than that the players will encounter quick-time-events (QTEs) which presumably are there to break up the monotony of slowly plodding around some stock horror environments (an abandoned factory, a darkened hospital and the like). The environments themselves look unpolished crudely and rendered; at their best look like David Fincher movie sets.
Aside from the gameplay mechanics, the main reason that Ju-on flounders so badly is down to the fact that the developers have relied on the cheapest and most cliched scare-tactics imaginable to try and frighten players. The most tiresome of these are the jack-in-the-box thrills where a pale-faced, dirty-haired youth leaps into shot suddenly, or a hand snakes out from a crack in a recently opened door. These are moments clearly designed to make players jump in fear, and initially they do, but eventually you're more likely to become annoyed than frightened by them. To be honest the sensation they provide could easily be replicated by an obnoxious co-worker sneaking up on you while your back is turned. The soundtrack, for its part, goes a long way towards redeeming the whole venture, packing the game with echoes, the odd gurgling sound and the pitter patter of feet off in the distance. However, it also occasionally cues up a scare that's waiting around the next corner, and so spoils the intended affect (hint: if the soundtrack filters out all noises except the player's footsteps, watch it!). Occasionally the malevolent ghosts will try to kill the player, and in order to avoid dying, they'll have to shake the Wii-mote frantically. However, they're usually given seconds to respond, and if they fail, it's game over.
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Ju-on The Grudge Gamespot
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The Grudge House Game
Which brings us neatly to the next annoyance; Ju-on has absolutely no checkpoint system. This may seem like a small thing, but players spend an inordinate amount of time fumbling around in the dark, moving at a snail's pace and exploring every nook and cranny for glinting items. After around eleven minutes of this, it's more than a little infuriating to have the level reset after missing a turning, or failing to respond within a split second to the murderous advances of some pale-faced urchin. To be frank, during the second hour of playing Ju-on, I became rather grateful that my Wii-mote was encased in a protective rubber sleeve. By the fifth, I'd stacked a small pile of pillows in the corner of the room, to ensure I didn't break the console's controller out of sheer frustration.
Perhaps the biggest misstep Ju-on makes is that it ignores one of the most crucial elements in creating a horror title; the audience needs to have sympathy for the protagonist. The way the different protagonists shuffle around the haunted buildings as though their feet are encased in cement does very little to endear them to the player. Play mame 32 games. After a while you start to feel that anyone who doesn't run screaming from a room after seeing bloody footprints appear out of nowhere on the floor in front of them deserves every hardship they encounter. Also, the longer the game goes on, the more searing white anger one starts to feel for the character that started all of this, Erika Yamada, who really lost any right she had to our support the moment she ran into a darkened warehouse in pursuit of her wretched dog. In short, after a while, players may start to side with the ghosts against the game's heroes – and considering they're playing the latter, that's no mean feat.
Ju On The Grudge Game Pc
The received wisdom concerning horror films from the Far East is that they lose a considerable amount of bite once they have been remade for Western audiences by a Hollywood studio. It's obviously too soon to say if the same can be said of all movie franchise video game tie-ins of this type, but if Ju-on: The Grudge is anything to go by, horror fans are better off sticking with the original films themselves. There's no need to invest any time in this title - especially when there are so many better horror games out there waiting to turn you into shivering pulp.